Learn sissonne: take off from both legs, land on one leg. With build-up via assemblé, turnout from the hip, landing technique and typical mistakes explained.
The honest answer to “What is a sissonne?”: it is a jump in which you take off from both legs and land on one leg, while the other leg stays free in the air or closes. In schools the variations are called simple, fermée (closed) and ouverte (open), each forward, to the side or backward.
Why is it a milestone? You leave the safe two-footed landing. After the jump you have only one leg that catches everything. That is exactly what makes the sissonne an intermediate jump.
What research says: in studies with 28 and 30 pre-professional dancers, the hip provided the greatest external rotation (turnout) in all phases of the sissonnes. It stayed stable from flight to landing and the knee contributed little [1][2]. In the preparation, however, knee and ankle rotated more than the hip [1]. Translated: your turnout in flight comes from the hip – so practise feeling the rotation there instead of taking it from the feet.
How hard is it really? The sequence is explained in an hour. Getting the one-legged landing clean, quiet and without the knee falling inward takes months (rule of thumb, no study evidence).
Before you land on one leg the basis must sit: simultaneous landing, plié, heels down. Milestone: ten assemblés whose landing your neighbour cannot hear.
Stand in fifth, demi-plié. You push off with both feet. In the air the legs stretch. The take-off is straight, the torso stays upright. The path in the air is short.
You land on one leg in demi-plié: toes, ball, heel. The free leg stays calm at cou-de-pied or in the air. The knee of the landing leg points over the second toe. For context: according to a study of 13 collegiate dancers, landing on one leg in turnout gives higher knee stiffness in the loading phase than a neutral foot position [3]. Your knee works harder, so land calmly and deep.
In the fermée the free leg closes into fifth position after landing or already in the air. This is the easiest variation. The landing leg sinks deep into plié, the closing leg touches down lightly.
In the ouverte the free leg stays open in the air (for example in front or to the side). It is harder because the landing on one leg must stay calm with the working leg open. Here you work with a teacher. The hip stays stable from flight to landing [2] – that is the anchor for your line.
The one-legged landing is the highest load on the jump ladder. In a study with 18 dancers, load and impact rose from two-footed relevé via two-footed sauté to one-footed sauté, highest at the one-footed sauté [4]. That is why you secure the two-footed preliminary steps first. Jump only on a sprung floor, always with deep plié. Stop at pain in the knee, ankle or shin and talk to your teacher. A sissonne ouverte with a high leg belongs under supervision. This description explains and motivates; it does not replace supervised training.
Practise the landing without a jump as a preliminary step: stand on both legs, go into demi-plié and shift the weight to one leg while the other rises to cou-de-pied. Do this ten times per side, then add the small jump. The landing then comes from your legs’ memory, not from chance. (Practical experience, no study evidence.)
In addition: a meta-analysis of 36 studies found that strength and conditioning training improved leg power (g = 0.90) in dancers over 16 [5]. Talk to your teacher first.
In the assemblé you push off with one leg and land on both feet. In the sissonne you take off from both legs and land on one leg. That is why the sissonne loads one leg alone and is harder.
Because the other leg stays free during landing: open in the air in the ouverte, closing afterwards in the fermée. That makes the sissonne a jump with a working-leg line and demands a strong landing leg [4].
If you land correctly, not more than other jumps. Risk rises with hard landings, knees collapsing inward and building up too fast. Landing in turnout leads to higher knee stiffness in the loading phase according to one study [3]. So: deep into plié, knee over toe.
From the hip: studies of pre-professionals show that the hip provides the greatest external rotation in all phases and the knee contributes little [1][2]. So do not get the rotation from the feet but from the hip joint.
When your assemblé is secure and quiet and you can stand ten seconds on one leg in demi-plié (practice standard). Ask your teacher where you stand before trying the ouverte with a high leg.
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